Teacher Appreciation Week, Part 2

It's ironic that this week is Teacher Appreciation Week, because it happens to be one of the weeks where I've felt most under appreciated this year.

I'm not sure it's anyone's fault, but this week has been absolutely miserable.

The first few days were fine, except for the fact that the kids have been acting up, ready for the end of the year and the sweet freedom of summer. If only they knew how much more ready (readier?) their teachers are. But since yesterday, we've been short two teachers who are at a conference, which means we have to pick up the slack and work in overdrive, as if we don't already. This is one of my biggest points of contention with the charter school system because, as I understand it, this is just something charter schools do. There are no substitutes, because we don't want "random" teachers who aren't familiar with our "high expectations and rigorous curriculum" to "waste" a second of our precious time with our kids. And I get that, sort of. But there should at least be a few interns or fellows or college students studying to be teachers that are on reserve for days when teachers are absent. It is asking entirely too much of us, and it makes the person who is taking a day off feel guilty for something that they are legally entitled to (and morally, in my opinion). But that's another story for another day.

So for me, it meant teaching a reading class, on the subject of puberty nonetheless (don't ask), and then teaching 3 straight periods of math before having a break. That's 5 hours straight with children. For their sake and mine, that should not be allowed. After a 15 minute break for lunch, I had book club, a planning period, and one last class, plus afternoon advisory. Needless to say I was thoroughly annoyed with the adults who subjected me to this by the end of the day. I know it sounds selfish, and I wasn't the only one doing double duty, but it doesn't change the fact that it was frustrating and exhausting.

But wait, it gets better. Every other Friday, the math and ELA teams take turns having a day off for planning purposes (the other teachers have schedules that allow them for more planning time throughout the week). Today was supposed to be my day off. It was the light at the end of the tunnel for me, my beacon of hope. Until we got an email yesterday that informed us that everyone is on, because of another round of testing. As if our poor babies haven't been subjected to enough testing, here we are, sitting in a silent classroom while they power through a boring ELA test about monarch butterflies, with the math test coming next. And there goes my day off.

Oh, but I'm not finished yet. The kids have a dance tonight, so staff has to be here until 7 pm. And while the rest of the team gets to go home or get work done from 2 - 4:30, the math team is staying for a meeting. Sweet.

There's still more. Tomorrow, from 1 pm - 3 pm, right smack dab in the middle of the day, we have to be at the kids' music concert. Have to. As in, mandatory. On a Saturday. After an extended workday. If that wasn't enough to tick me off, I was supposed to go see one of my favorite singer/songwriters at a FREE concert Saturday afternoon. Goodbye, Matt Wertz show, hello sixth grade music concert.

I know I'm being a little dramatic. But there has been no acknowledgement of the fact that they are asking a lot of us this week and this weekend, and it is offensive and frustrating. As much as I love my job and my kids, I need for my personal life to be respected.

In the midst of all this craziness, though, I got an email from an old co-worker and friend at EMS. For Teacher Appreciation Week, the kids wrote letters to teachers they appreciate, and apparently two of my boys from last year wrote a shout out to me. Their simple words almost moved me to tears, and reminded me that the beauty of teaching is in the small things and that we often won't see the fruits of our labors immediately. Read below for their shout outs, forgive the grammatical errors, and enjoy the simplicity of their thoughts.

"Another Teacher I appreciate is Ms. H she mademath so easy. I passed my EOG on the first try with a 3 …. Now math doesn’t seem so hard .I always made a B or C in her class . So far she been the best math teacher I ever had … I WISH MORE MATH TEACHERS WOULD COME LIKE THAT."

"I appreciate Ms.H, I appreciate her because in my 7th grade year she helped me pass the E.O.G my first time with a 3. She gave me the formulas and before the test I did the brain drain which made me feel confident starting the E.O.G. I still use Ms.H method today when I have to do surface area, area or volume problems today. Even though we barely do problems like that, every time we do I will use the brain drain method."

It's nice to feel a little appreciated, even if it is by students I no longer teach, who are 600 miles away. Here's to hoping that these last 3 weeks are better than this one.